The death toll in the Edo State cult clashes has increased to 20, it was gathered on Sunday.
Also, the police in the state said they had arrested 10 persons in connection with the hostilities.
Suspected
members of Eiye Confraternity and Black Axe have since last Thursday
engaged one another in supremacy battle in Benin, the state capital.
It was
learnt that while discussions were ongoing, the Black Axe member
allegedly brought a Pump Action gun, and shot one of the visitors on the
leg.
Following
this, friends of the victim later mobilised and went on a reprisal,
visiting homes of suspected Black Axe members and attacking them.
The attacks, our correspondent gathered, resulted in the killing of a friend of the suspect, around the New Benin.
However,
the fighting between members of the cult groups later escalated,
extending to places like Idu Owena, Ugbowo, Isihor, Ugbiyoko, Textile
Mill Road and in Igbesanwa with many people reported dead.
Worried
by the development, Governor Adams Oshiomhole was said to have convened
an emergency security meeting, where he charged security operatives to
fish out the killers.
Meanwhile,
the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Foluso Adebanjo, who could
not confirm the exact number of people killed, described the crisis as
unacceptable.
He promised that the police would deal with the culprits.
He
said, “We are not relaxing at all. We are in search of the leaders
behind these killings. Already, we have arrested some persons in
connection with the crisis while others are on the run. The killings
will stop because policemen are all on the alert now.
“All
security agencies in the state are concerned. The governor is equally
concerned and residents of the state are concerned. So, we will not
relent in stopping this madness. It is very sad that people no longer
value human lives; it is sad.”